Walks
Hafod is located in a beautifully quiet and unspoilt corner of Snowdonia. You may of course want to drive up past Betws-y-Coed and Capel Curig to the high mountains: Moel Siabod; the Snowdon horseshoe; the Glyders, Y Garn and the Devil’s Kitchen, Tryfan; the Carneddau.
We find though that it is equally satisfying to explore the local area around the house, which you can do by yourselves without finding a hundred other people at every viewpoint.
On the far side of the road, the ground rises slowly towards Llyn Conwy, about a mile away. Follow the Land-Rover track until it peters out, then head uphill. There is a track on the map but you need a lot of imagination to recognise it (passing to left of tree in photo below):
These occasional self-seeded Christmas trees are useful way-marks amidst the heather!
Behind the house, the stream draining the highlands forms a waterfall over a spectacular, overhanging volcanic sill (or dyke) and follows a gorge onwards down the valley. Seasoned scramblers with good boots can go down the steep slopes beside the waterfall and, in dry weather, picnic beside it or dip in the pools – I have even stood under it with a stopwatch and large bucket to measure the flow rate (4 litres/second!). In wet weather though, this section is an awesome, 5 foot deep mass of foam and surging waters at the bottom of a steep and slippery slope.
after about 150 yards, the gorge joins the stream that runs through the garden, with a pair of ledges between them: beyond the confluence, a waterfall shoots out into the void – reminiscent of the scene for Sherlock Holmes’ final battle with Moriarty.
There follows an even more private section of river that can only be reached by walking down the top of the ridge, then scrambling up beside the river, from pool to pool.
The surrounding area is part of the Migneint-Arenig-Dduallt Special Area of Conservation, home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds, insects and plants. Our neighbours 4 miles away at the Pont yr Avon Gam cafe have had polecats looking in through their windows – and we love seeing our local stoat in its winter coat. Up on the top of the moors you may be lucky enough to see Hen Harriers; around the house, the usual bird is a Meadow Pipit.
- Cafe is open 11-5, Thursday-Sunday in summer; very good cake, the best cafe for miles! 01766 762766, map, FaceBook page.
There is no sign of it from the house, but there are two slate quarries, Rhiw Fachno and Rhiw-Bach, on the far side of Moel Marchyria (the mountain behind the house). It’s easiest to drive down into the valley, go left through Cwm Penmachno and park at the end of the road; from there you may walk up through the quarries. Dave Slattery’s site has good photos of Rhiw-Bach; his Flickr site has pages for many Welsh sites.